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cantharidin

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Cantharidin
The active component of Chinese fly and Cantharis—Spanish fly; it is highly irritating and causes vesicle formation; it has been used to treat warts and other skin lesions

cantharidin [kan-thar´ĭ-din]
the most active principle of cantharides, the dried Spanish fly, Lytta vesicatoria; preparations containing cantharidin are used topically as a vesicant to remove warts and lesions of molluscum contagiosum.

cantharidin (kan·tharˑ··dn),
n bitter-tasting, crystalline substance that is the active principle of cantharides and is also found in the bodies of some species of beetles; causes blistering on skin and is lethal to some animals that consume dead bodies of beetles in hay.

cantharidin
the most active principle of cantharides with similar activity. Preparations containing cantharidin are used topically as a vesicant to remove warts and were popular at one time as rubefacients for horses.


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Doctors sometimes paint warts with a chemical called cantharidin.
Often cantharidin, derived from the blister beetle (no, really), is applied to the wart along with salicylic acid, then covered with a bandage and eventually peeled or scraped off.
Blister Beetles get their name from the fact that they contain a toxin called cantharidin that will make your skin break out in blisters if you come in contact with it.
 
 
 
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